House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan (R-OH) on Friday spoke out about a bizarre interaction between an IRS agent and an Ohio taxpayer involving a false alias and coercive tactics over a nonexistent tax bill.
According to a letter Rep. Jordan sent to IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel, an IRS agent made an unannounced visit to a taxpayer in Marion, Ohio and entered the person’s home after claiming to be “Agent Bill Haus.” The taxpayer allowed the agent to enter after he disclosed details of the person’s tax returns that only the IRS would know. During his visit, the agent claimed the taxpayer owed “a substantial amount” after improperly documenting the sale of an estate.
The taxpayer refuted the agent’s accounting of the transaction, said Jordan, leading “Agent Haus” to admit his real reason for visiting was related to several delinquent tax returns. The taxpayer called their attorney who ordered the IRS agent to leave the home. In response, the Ohio taxpayer and her attorney sent several communications to the IRS, which finally admitted that no delinquency existed and the case was closed.
“This behavior from an IRS agent to an American taxpayer—providing an alias, using deception to secure entry into the taxpayer’s home, and then filing an Inspector General complaint against a police officer examining that matter—is highly concerning,” Rep. Jordan wrote.
First, the IRS knocked on @mtaibbi’s door while he was testifying.
Now, we learn they harassed one of our constituents who didn’t do anything wrong.
And to top it off, the IRS agent used a fake name to enter the constituent’s home. pic.twitter.com/EJX0Qlynte
— Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) June 17, 2023
In his letter, the Ohio congresswoman asked IRS Commissioner Werfel to provide the Judiciary Committee with all documents by the IRS about “Agent Haus” and his unannounced visit as well as the agency’s correspondence with the Treasury Department and other Executive Branch agencies about the taxpayer.
The unsettling interaction is not the first by IRS agents who recently made an unannounced visit to the home of journalist Matt Taibbi as he was an active witness testifying before the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government about how the federal government pressured, coerced, and even directed technology companies to take certain actions related to digital content.
As part of the debt ceiling deal reached between President Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, billions of dollars previously sent to bolster the FBI’s ranks have now been stripped. A whistleblower with the agency has come forward to speak out about preferential treatment for first son Hunter Biden who is being investigated to falsifying tax documents.
